Electromagnetic wave[r]: A change, periodic in space and time, of an electric field E(r,t) and a magnetic field B(r,t); a stream of electromagnetic waves, referred to as electromagnetic radiation, can be seen as a stream of massless elementary particles, named photons. [e]

Optics[r]: A field of scientific, technological, and engineering study and application concerned with understanding light, — typically in the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum — and harnessing it for useful tasks. [e]

Electromagnetism in materials

Clausius-Mossotti relation[r]: connects the relative permittivity εr of a dielectric to the polarizability α of the atoms or molecules constituting the dielectric. [e]

Dielectric[r]: an insulating, but polarizable, material that can be solid, liquid or gas; its important characterizing property is the relative permittivity (aka dielectric constant). [e]

Ohm's law[r]: A law which states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference or voltage across the two points, and inversely proportional to the resistance between them. [e]

Contributors

André-Marie Ampère[r]: (Lyons 20 January, 1775 – Marseilles 10 June, 1836) French physicist and mathematician best known for his work in electricity and magnetism. [e]

Jean-Baptiste Biot[r]: (Paris 1774 – Paris 1862) French physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and chemist best known for the Biot-Savart law. [e]

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb[r]: (Angoulême June 14, 1736 – Paris August 23, 1806) French physicist known for formulating a law for the force between two electrically charged bodies. [e]

Michael Faraday[r]: (1791 – 1867) Was an English physicist and chemist whose best known work was on the closely connected phenomena of electricity and magnetism; his discoveries lead to the electrification of industrial societies. [e]

Carl Friedrich Gauss[r]: German mathematician, who was one of the most influential figures in the history of mathematics and mathematical physics (1777 – 1855). [e]

James Clerk Maxwell[r]: (1831 – 1879) Scottish physicist best known for his formulation of electromagnetic theory and the statistical theory of gases. [e]

Hans Christian Oersted[r]: (Rudkøbing, August 14, 1777 – Copenhagen, March 9, 1851) Danish physicist and chemist best known for his discovery of the influence of an electric current on the orientation of a compass needle. [e]

Felix Savart[r]: (Mézières 30 June 1791 – Paris 16 March 1841) French physicist, known for the Biot-Savart law. [e]

Wilhelm Eduard Weber[r]: (Wittenberg October 24, 1804 – Göttingen June 23, 1891) German physicist known for his work in magnetism and on electromagnetic units. [e]

Cosmology[r]: A branch of astronomy and of metaphysics committed to the study of the universe as a whole, of the contents, structure, and evolution of the universe from the beginning of time to the future. [e]

Classical mechanics[r]: The science of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws governing and mathematically describing the motions of bodies and aggregates of bodies geometrically distributed within a certain boundary under the action of a system of forces. [e]